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Biggest Flops on Non-UK TV

I thought the thread on the Biggest Flops on UK TV was sufficiently intriguing to start a thread on TV that flopped elsewhere. I don't just mean TV shows that got cancelled after one series, but TV shows whose failure was notable in some way (Losing a large amount of money for the makers, attracting lots of public hostility, etc.)

One example was "Supertrain". This was a 1979 US series by NBC. It was intended to rip-off the "Love Boat", and was set on a giant, futuristic, nuclear powered train. It got terrible ratings, and nearly bankrupted the network.

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If ever a show failed to make the trip across the Atlantic then this had a to be a prime example. Robinson's mockery of losing contestants really didn't fit with the US mentality "Americans don't kick people when they're down" & Robinson's "Queen of Mean" just didn't fir

NBC cancelled the show with 10 episode left unaired

Robinson, at the time of the cancellation, claimed it would at least let her concentrate on other US opportunities, none of which ever happened

Then there's the Fox Reality Show "Utopia" which was designed to last a year . Fix had spent $50M on the show . It was supposed to air twice a week, quickly reduced down to 1 and cancelled after just 12 episodes (first 8 being aired in the first 4 weeks)

Contestants who's planned to be out a whole year, returned home after just a couple of months

If ever a show failed to make the trip across the Atlantic then this had a to be a prime example. Robinson's mockery of losing contestants really didn't fit with the US mentality "Americans don't kick people when they're down" & Robinson's "Queen of Mean" just didn't fir

NBC cancelled the show with 10 episode left unaired

It aired for 3 seasons - 73 episodes, on NBC.
And then a further 324 episodes in syndication, so I don’t really think it can be considered a flop!

If ever a show failed to make the trip across the Atlantic then this had a to be a prime example. Robinson's mockery of losing contestants really didn't fit with the US mentality "Americans don't kick people when they're down" & Robinson's "Queen of Mean" just didn't fir

NBC cancelled the show with 10 episode left unaired

It aired for 3 seasons - 73 episodes, on NBC.
And then a further 324 episodes in syndication, so I don’t really think it can be considered a flop!

If ever a show failed to make the trip across the Atlantic then this had a to be a prime example. Robinson's mockery of losing contestants really didn't fit with the US mentality "Americans don't kick people when they're down" & Robinson's "Queen of Mean" just didn't fir

NBC cancelled the show with 10 episode left unaired

It aired for 3 seasons - 73 episodes, on NBC.
And then a further 324 episodes in syndication, so I don’t really think it can be considered a flop!

And Anne Robinson earned a fortune from it.

To be fair I don’t think she hosted the syndicated version, which did many more episodes and typically is where more money is made… but the show itself wasn’t a flop in the US.

Then there's the Fox Reality Show "Utopia" which was designed to last a year . Fix had spent $50M on the show . It was supposed to air twice a week, quickly reduced down to 1 and cancelled after just 12 episodes (first 8 being aired in the first 4 weeks)

Contestants who's planned to be out a whole year, returned home after just a couple of months

I believe Fox lost about 50 million on "Utopia".

The Aussie show "Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos" was famously cancelled after the station's owner, Kerry Packer, saw the program. Disgusted, he phoned the station and demanded "Get that s**t off the air!". ANHV was pulled before the rest of the episode aired and replaced with re-runs of "Cheers".

If ever a show failed to make the trip across the Atlantic then this had a to be a prime example. Robinson's mockery of losing contestants really didn't fit with the US mentality "Americans don't kick people when they're down" & Robinson's "Queen of Mean" just didn't fir

NBC cancelled the show with 10 episode left unaired

It aired for 3 seasons - 73 episodes, on NBC.
And then a further 324 episodes in syndication, so I don’t really think it can be considered a flop!

I'm talking about the 1hr NBC show, NBC showed one season starring Anne, as I said it was cancelled with 10 episodes left to show.

they retooled the show, produced a half hour version and sold it in syndication but it didn't feature Anne Robinson as the host was George grey.

"Emily's Reason's Why Not". Starred Heather Graham as an author of self-help books who's unable to find love and after multiple failed relationships develops a rule in which if she can find 5 reasons to break up with a guy then she has to break up with him

Apparently ABC had commissioned the show without asking for a Pilot or a Script (it was starring Heather Graham!!) After airing the first episode in which they featured virtually every gay stereotype there was even Jiu-Jitsu ("The Gayest Sport There Is") . The show was cancelled with 6 episodes unaired

Also Laureline mentioned "Utopia" but how about "The Will", a CBS Reality Show in which 10 siblings of a wealthy Billionaire competed to win the bulk of their father's will. CBS aired the first episode and cancelled it immediately

And then there was "Viva Laughlin", starring Hugh Jackman, it was based upon the BBC show "Viva Blackpool" , given a 13 episode order , CBS cancelled it after two episodes with just 7 produced

Six Degrees...
These are how the ratings went for that in 2006... 12.56, 10.15m, 9.11m, 8.69m, 8.36m, 7.40m (it was then pulled, before returning the next year to air more episodes for 2 episodes)... 4.45m and last episode on Tv got 3.12m. Within 8 episodes it lost 9.5m million viewers. It then went online.

Six Degrees...
These are how the ratings went for that in 2006... 12.56, 10.15m, 9.11m, 8.69m, 8.36m, 7.40m (it was then pulled, before returning the next year to air more episodes for 2 episodes)... 4.45m and last episode on Tv got 3.12m. Within 8 episodes it lost 9.5m million viewers. It then went online.

Six Degrees...
These are how the ratings went for that in 2006... 12.56, 10.15m, 9.11m, 8.69m, 8.36m, 7.40m (it was then pulled, before returning the next year to air more episodes for 2 episodes)... 4.45m and last episode on Tv got 3.12m. Within 8 episodes it lost 9.5m million viewers. It then went online.

I really enjoyed the only season made of a show called Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as identical twins, it did not come back for a second season - presumably due to poor ratings, I really wanted to know what happened next!

I really enjoyed the only season made of a show called Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as identical twins, it did not come back for a second season - presumably due to poor ratings, I really wanted to know what happened next!

Yes!

I am still gutted that they cancelled this. The way they ended it.... seriously?

It was due to poor ratings after their hiatus. It was on the CW and averaged around 0.7 demo before the break. Bear in mind, the average for the CW was around 0.7 back then. But then when it returned after Christmas, it kept falling and think ended with like a 0.3? Which is lower than CW's average now.

If ever a show failed to make the trip across the Atlantic then this had a to be a prime example. Robinson's mockery of losing contestants really didn't fit with the US mentality "Americans don't kick people when they're down" & Robinson's "Queen of Mean" just didn't fir

NBC cancelled the show with 10 episode left unaired

It aired for 3 seasons - 73 episodes, on NBC.
And then a further 324 episodes in syndication, so I don’t really think it can be considered a flop!

I'm talking about the 1hr NBC show, NBC showed one season starring Anne, as I said it was cancelled with 10 episodes left to show.

they retooled the show, produced a half hour version and sold it in syndication but it didn't feature Anne Robinson as the host was George grey.

Fair enough, but then shouldn’t we be saying that Anne Robinson was a flop rather than the show itself? And even she hosted 83 episodes over 3 seasons in primetime (and yes, the final 10 went unaired). Still not really a flop in my opinion.
And given the show then went on to do another 324 episodes once retooled, I find it hard to label it a flop.

As a Conan O’Brien fan I hate to say this, but ‘The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien’ was a massive flop for NBC. Only 7 months on the air, in a new studio which cost $50million to build, and resulted in them paying O’Brien $35million to terminate his contract.
I should say the show’s failure was at least in part down to NBC’s poor management - refusing to let former Tonight Show host, Jay Leno, leave the network and offering him a new show (which was also a flop) scheduled before O’Brien’s Tonight Show.
Jay Leno ultimately returned as host of The Tonight Show. A very expensive, and PR, nightmare for NBC.

The TV adaptation of the movie 'Alien Nation'. It aired on FOX for one season from September 1989 to May 1990 but due to a financial shortage the network cancelled all of their drama shows for the 1990-91 TV season.

I really enjoyed the only season made of a show called Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as identical twins, it did not come back for a second season - presumably due to poor ratings, I really wanted to know what happened next!

Yes!

I am still gutted that they cancelled this. The way they ended it.... seriously?

It was due to poor ratings after their hiatus. It was on the CW and averaged around 0.7 demo before the break. Bear in mind, the average for the CW was around 0.7 back then. But then when it returned after Christmas, it kept falling and think ended with like a 0.3? Which is lower than CW's average now.

I really think that's another way that streaming services have helped TV quality. They've removed all the pressure for the first few episodes to be instant hits and allow the story telling to build up more gradually. Also they air everything.

Then there's the Fox Reality Show "Utopia" which was designed to last a year . Fix had spent $50M on the show . It was supposed to air twice a week, quickly reduced down to 1 and cancelled after just 12 episodes (first 8 being aired in the first 4 weeks)

Contestants who's planned to be out a whole year, returned home after just a couple of months

I believe Fox lost about 50 million on "Utopia".

The Aussie show "Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos" was famously cancelled after the station's owner, Kerry Packer, saw the program. Disgusted, he phoned the station and demanded "Get that s**t off the air!". ANHV was pulled before the rest of the episode aired and replaced with re-runs of "Cheers".

Reading about that one, & seems Kerry Packer was that furious, quite a few staff got fired the following day, the presenter got banned from presenting anything on Channel Nine, only presented another show on Nine after Packer died.